Chapter 230
Chapter 230
#Chapter 230 – Water
Victor reaches out a hand, snatching me as soon as I come in within his reach and dragging me through the water to him. I laugh as he pulls me against him, delighted at the feeling of being weightless, of being drawn close to him so effortlessly.
Victor tucks a hand behind my back, pulling me against him so that our chests are flush against each other. I wrap my legs around his waist, looping my arms around his neck as he holds me close, his mouth going immediately to my neck and pressing kisses there.
I exhale a long sigh, relishing the feeling of my body against his, of the peace that this pool brought me almost the instant we got here. But still, as my mate’s kisses grow more fervent, traveling up my neck, I push back against him just a little.
“No, wait,” I protest.
“No,” he refuses, shaking his head and returning his attention to my neck. Slowly, he uses the length of his tongue to trace the line of my throat, drawing an eager little shudder from my body. “Now, Evelyn –“
“No!” I say again, laughing, pushing harder against his shoulders, making him look at me. He glares at me now a little, frustrated to be distracted. “Seriously, Victor,” I plead. “We’re still disgusting – we haven’t had a bath in days – can we just take a minute? To clean up?”
“Fine,” he growls. “But it will be a waste, because you’re just going to have to clean up again when I’m finished with you.”
“Good,” I murmur, bringing my face back to his and pressing a long kiss to his lips. I feel his arms tighten around me again as my mouth opens and his tongue slips inside, pressing urgently against mine, letting me know precisely how much he does not care how dirty we are.
“Patience,” I whisper as I pull away, unwrapping my legs from his waist and swimming away from him.
“I never won awards for patience in school,” he grumbles, pushing away from me into the deeper water, almost as if he has to so he won’t grab me again. “Not precisely an Alpha trait.”
“Oh well,” I say, my face all innocence. “Looks like you’ll just have to learn it today.”
I take a deep breath, then, and plunge under the water, relishing the cool press of it on every surface of my body. I let myself sink to the bottom of the pool, running my fingers through my hair, shaking my head to get out all of the dirt and sweat that I know has been accumulating there for days.
God, what I wouldn’t give for even just a tiny bottle of shampoo right now. But, I’ll make do.
As I begin to run out of breath, I reach a hand down to the bottom of the pool, scooping up a handful of the sand that I felt there with my toes. Then I surface, taking in a fresh breath and inspecting the coarse sandy paste in my hand. I smile at it, pleased that – as I suspected – it’s clear, fresh sand like that you’d find at a beach.
“What’s that?” Victor asks, frowning curiously at me.
“Nature’s soap,” I say, smiling at him. “Come here.”
“No,” he protests, pushing further away from me. “You’re going to rub that all over me and scrape my skin off with it.”
I laugh, chasing him into the deeper water. “Come on!” I shout. “It’s a natural exfoliant!”
“No!” he objects, but he lets me catch him after a minute, pulling me close again.
“Here,” I command, turning him away from me. “I’ll do your back, and then I’ll let you go. Fair?”
He grumbles his assent and I laugh again as I wrap my legs around him from behind, letting the water hold me up as I use my hands to spread the cool sand over his back and shoulders. As I work, Victor slowly maneuvers us to the far side of the pool, closer to the waterfall where there are more rocks for us to sit on. I smile as I start to feel the waterfall’s spray in the air, as he finds a place to settle where we’re both comfortable.
“How do you feel?” he asks as I finish up my work, using the sand to rub the dirt and sweat off his skin, massaging his shoulders as I go.
“Better,” I respond quietly, taking pleasure at the sight and feel of his strong, broad muscles. “You’re very good looking, you know,” I continue, an unrelated statement that makes him laugh a little and turn to me, curious.
“What made you think that?” he asks as I spread more sand across his chest now, admiring the shape and contour of his pectoral muscles, what bits of his abs I can see above the water.
I shrug and see him smile a little, anticipating a joke.
“I’m just glad,” I continue, looking up at him innocently. “If I’m going to be mated with someone, I don’t want them to be ugly.” I look him up and down then, assessing. “You’ll do, though,” I say, working hard to hide my smirk.
Victor does not try to hide the slow smile that slides over his lips. “You liar,” he murmurs, grabbing me by the waist and yanking me towards him.
“What!” I yell, squawking with laughter. “How is that a lie!”
“Because!” he shouts, laughing as well and dragging me closer to the waterfall. “I don’t just ‘do’ – you’re thrilled to be mated to a hottie like me –“
“Oh!” I shout, my voice falsely appalled – “a hottie! He thinks he’s a hottie now, everyone!”
“Who are you talking to,” he murmurs then, still laughing, close enough to the falls now that they pound just behind him, enveloping us in the mist. “No one can hear you but me.”
“The magic,” I murmur back, bringing my lips close to his own so that he feels the words as well as hears them. “And the whole universe, apparently. Didn’t you hear? We’re astral mates. Apparently, the whole universe is listening.”
“Well,” he says, tugging me through the falls, making me gasp as the water pounds on my head, drenching me anew. But very suddenly they’re past, and we’re in a secret little cove behind them. “Logically, I must be gorgeous, because if I’m your mate, I’m supposed to be your match in every way. And you, Evelyn…”
He takes a moment to pause here, putting his hand on my face and staring at me, the humor sliding away from his expression to be replaced with an earnestness he so rarely presents to the world. “You…are incredible.”
My lip starts to tremble, then, and he shakes his head at me, a little confused, not wanting me to cry.
“No,” I whisper, pulling myself tight against him, our bodies flush together in the cool dark of our hidden cove. I tuck my head into its space between his shoulder and his neck, shaking it in denial. “I’m not sad, Victor. I just…I love you so incredibly much. And I’m so grateful that we found each other. And I never want to let you go.”
“I know,” he replies, his armed wrapped tight around me. And I can feel it, in the bond between us, that he understands me perfectly because he feels precisely the same way.
I close my eyes then, breathing evenly, wanting nothing more than to stay in this moment with my mate, to feel his body against mine, to simply breathe here in the darkness. And Victor’s breath slows
too, relishing the calm feeling of simply holding me in his arms.
I’m there again, quite suddenly. There in the darkness of the dream space. But I’m not afraid. Instead, this time, I know Victor is there with me, fully conscious.
I don’t know if I’m awake or asleep, if I’m seeing with my eyes or with my mind. But all around us in the darkness of the night, of the secret place behind the falls, I see an endless breadth of stars. And I know Victor sees precisely the same thing.
I pull away from him for a moment, seeking his face in the dark, finding it. I place my hands on either side of that face, cupping it between my palms, staring at him, filling my soul with the sight of him. I accept him, in that moment, for the perfect complement he is to everything that rings true in my soul. The Alpha to my Luna. At once a part of me, my soul written again, and at the same time separate, totally himself.
And then, quite suddenly, it’s done. My strength doesn’t come rushing back to me but it’s simply… there. Again, it’s my own. Like turning a key in a lock, or the saying of a vow, it is the tiniest little change that opens the door to a whole new world.
I see in Victor’s face as he, too, registers the change. Feels that the journey is complete.
He exhales a huge breath of relief and I let out a little laugh, looking around us in wonder.
“Victor,” I say, as the stars around us begin to fade, as we find ourselves again in that pool in the forest, in our secret cove behind the waterfall. “I think we did it –“
“You did it, Evelyn,” he says, marveling at me, looking at me with such gratitude plain on his face. “You – you saved me –“
I shake my head at him, dismissing the idea. “No, Victor,” I say seriously. “From here on out? Everything is a we.”
“It had better be,” he murmurs, pulling me close against him and sliding a hand down to grip my ass as he pushes us out from beneath the falls, again drenching us as we pass through. I laugh as we go, delighted in the feel of the strength I can sense in him again. “It had better be a we,” he says, bringing me back over to the rocks and laying me out there before him. “Because I am marrying you the minute we get home.” NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
“Well,” I growl, wanting him with a sudden need that I can’t explain or deny. I grab him by the hips and pull him closer so that he stands between my legs. “Maybe that can wait just a little bit.”
Victor’s hungry snarl slices through the air.
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